Alex Honnold

Alex Honnold is one of the world's best ‘free solo’ climbers. He scales impossible rock faces without ropes, pitons or any support of any kind. In Alone on the Wall, he takes you with him.‘Riveting’ - Jon Krakauer, bestselling author of Into the WildThis edition includes the account of Alex's El Capitan climb, subject of the Oscar and BAFTA-winning documentary, Free Solo. Exhilarating, brilliant and dangerous, there is a purity to Alex's climbs that is easy to comprehend, but also impossible to fathom. In the last forty years, only a handful of climbers have pushed themselves as far, ‘free soloing’ to the absolute limit of human capabilities. Half of them are dead. From Yosemite's famous Half Dome to the terrifying heights of El Sendero Luminoso in Mexico, Alone on the Wall explores Alex's seven most extraordinary climbing achievements so far. These are tales to make your palms sweat and your feet curl with vertigo. Together, they get to the heart of how – and why – Alex does what he does. Exciting, uplifting and truly awe-inspiring, Alone on the Wall presents an exploration of the world of extreme sports and the human ability to maintain a singular focus, even in the face of mortal danger.

On June 3rd, 2017, Alex Honnold became the first person to free solo Yosemite's El Capitan-to scale the wall without rope, a partner, or any protective gear-completing what was described as "the greatest feat of pure rock climbing in the history of the sport" (National Geographic) and "one of the great athletic feats of any kind, ever" (New York Times). Already one of the most famous adventure athletes in the world, Honnold has now been hailed as "the greatest climber of all time" (Vertical magazine). Alone on the Wall recounts the most astonishing achievements of Honnold's extraordinary life and career, brimming with lessons on living fearlessly, taking risks, and maintaining focus even in the face of extreme danger. Now Honnold tells, for the first time and in his own words, the story of his 3 hours and 56 minutes on the sheer face of El Cap, which Outside called "the moon landing of free soloing...a generation-defining climb. Bad ass and beyond words...one of the pinnacle sporting moments of all time."

*Winner of the 2017 Banff Book Award for Mountaineering History and the 2017 Banff Book Award Grand Prize* Portraits that reveal the core of their remarkable subjects A visual history of special significance to climbers of all ages For nearly 2 decades, professional photographer Jim Herrington has been working on a portrait series of influential rock and mountain climbers. The Climbers documents these rugged individualists who, from roughly the 1930s to 1970s, used primitive gear along with their considerable wits, talent, and fortitude to tackle unscaled peaks around the world. Today, these men and women are renowned for their past accomplishments and, in many cases, are the last of the remaining practitioners from the so‐called "Golden Age" of 20th century climbing. Herrington's images--the result of his own passion for climbing--allow us to study the faces of climbers who were driven to do the impossible for no other reason than the challenge. In these portraits we find people who ascended bold, visionary lines, often in remote regions, away from the media spotlight and without any hope for reward. Yet in many ways the severe routes these men and women established outshine today's ascents due, in part, to the fact that rope and other gear were so strikingly inferior to today. And often our pioneering predecessors were climbing into a malevolent unknown--if compromised or injured, the only people in the world likely capable of initiating their rescue were the climbers themselves. Innovation emerged frequently and in unlikely ways. In these images, Herrington has captured the utter humanity of obsession, determination, intellect, and frailty.